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Belomancy, alsobolomancy, is the ancient art ofdivination by use ofarrows. The word is built uponAncient Greek:βέλος,romanized: belos,lit. 'arrow, dart', andμαντεία,manteia, 'divination'. Belomancy was anciently practiced at least byBabylonians,Greeks,Arabs andScythians.
The arrows were typically marked withoccult symbols and had to have feathers for every method. In one method, different possible answers to a given question were written and tied to each arrow. For example, three arrows would be marked with the phrases,God orders it me,God forbids it me, and the third would be blank. The arrow that flew the furthest indicated the answer. Another method involves the same thing, but without shooting the arrows. They would simply be shuffled in thequiver, worn preferably on the back, and the first arrow to be drawn indicated the answer. If a blank arrow was drawn, they would redraw.
This was an ancient practice, and probably mentioned in theBook of Ezekiel 21:21, shown below in the original Hebrew, and translated to English in theNew American Standard Bible,
Jerome agrees with this understanding of the verse, and observes that the practice was frequent among theAssyrians andBabylonians. Something like it is also mentioned inHosea 4:12, although a staff or rod is used instead of arrows, which isrhabdomancy rather than belomancy.Grotius, as well as Jerome, confounds the two together, and shows that it prevailed much among theMagi,Chaldeans, andScythians, from which it passed to theSlavonians, and then to the Germans, whomTacitus[citation needed] observes to make use of it.
Belomancy is also attested inpre-Islamic Arab religion. In hisBook of Idols, early Muslim historianIbn al-Kalbi mentions that there were seven divination arrows in front of the statue ofHubal in theKaaba.[1]
Belomancy is condemned in the Qur’an as a “work ofSatan” inAl-Ma'idah, the 5thSurah of the Qu'ran
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِنَّمَا ٱلْخَمْرُ وَٱلْمَيْسِرُ وَٱلْأَنصَابُ وَٱلْأَزْلَـٰمُ رِجْسٌۭ مِّنْ عَمَلِ ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنِ فَٱجْتَنِبُوهُ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ٩٠
Translation: O believers, intoxicants, gambling, idols, and drawing lots for decisions are all evil of Satan’s handiwork. So shun them so you may be successful.
In the 91st verse ofSurahAl-Ma'idah of the Qu'ran:
﴿۹۲ اِنَّمَا یُرِیۡدُ الشَّیۡطٰنُ اَنۡ یُّوۡقِعَ بَیۡنَکُمُ الۡعَدَاوَۃَ وَالۡبَغۡضَآءَ فِی الۡخَمۡرِ وَالۡمَیۡسِرِ وَیَصُدَّکُمۡ عَنۡ ذِکۡرِ اللّٰہِ وَعَنِ الصَّلٰوۃِ ۚ فَہَلۡ اَنۡتُمۡ مُّنۡتَہُوۡنَ[3]
Translation: Satan desires only to create enmity and hatred among you by means of wine and the game of hazard, and to keep you back from the remembrance of Allah and from Prayer. But will you keep back?- Qur'an 5:91[4]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chambers, Ephraim, ed. (1728)."Belomancy".Cyclopædia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences (1st ed.). James and John Knapton, et al. p. 96. Retrieved2 May 2022.
